During maintenance of an air conditioning system, including an automatic air conditioning system, it is sometimes necessary to flush the system or system components by circulating solvent solution that may be volatile and/or odourous through the system components to dissolve and remove all contaminants and oil from the system components. These contaminants and oil must be completely removed from the system components before the system can be recharged with clean refrigerant and oil. If not completely removed, the residual contaminants or oil can cause problems or system failure after the system is back in operation.
Flush and purge machines for this purpose are known. The machine is connected to the component to be flushed. The solvent is fed from the machine through the system and back to the machine. Contaminants are dissolved by the solvent. The solvent is fed through the system for a period of time, for example half an hour.
After the solvent has been run through the system for a sufficient time, compressed air is fed through the system to purge the solvent. Liquid solvent drops out into a tank in the machine and the air is filtered by a charcoal filter in the machine. The compressed air is typically vented into the atmosphere. The vented fumes are unpleasant, potentially hazardous to breath, and/or potentially explosive.
Alternative systems are desirable.